Double award for South Architects

Christchurch-based South Architects took out two top honours at this year’s Architectural Design Awards.

In the Residential New Home over 300m2 category the award went to the Folded Roof Home by Craig South of South Architects.

Built on a narrow street façade, this home was recognised for its use of a folded roof form to guide visitors up through the interior spaces toward a view of the Southern Alps.

“This is a thoughtful and inventive design,” said the judges. “Dynamic space planning has been employed particularly well to resolve issues and exploit the full potential of this challenging site.

The folded roof planes are set up to complement the spatial planning.

“This is a scheme where three dimensions are needed to tell the story and where the elevational drawings struggle to illustrate how the folded roof form has been employed with great poise,” the judges said.

The second award was in the Multi-Unit Dwelling Architectural Design category for the Peterborough Housing
Co-operative.

Built following the Canterbury earthquakes, the co-operative is based on the philosophy of co-housing, which emphasises community space and connection while isolating car parking.

“What we have here is a project that is both very well-executed and very timely. The result is a particularly well-conceived co-housing scheme that exemplifies the potential for an increasingly important approach to multi-unit living in New Zealand,” judges said.